Fat in general is good for you, the only case where its amount should be kept under control is when you're eating carbohydrates along with it. Of course, if you need to keep your caloric intake under strict control, fat might need to be limited.

There are some fats that are not good for you, i.e. trans-fats, hydrogenated fats and other man engineered fat products. I generally use extravirgin olive oil to cook and no butter but that's mostly because I never learnt to use butter properly, and I find EVOO very convenient to use.

On raw foods (i.e. salads) I occasionally use soy oil but I've got mixed feelings about it and I don't like the flavor very much.

As for cheese, my position is - as long as it's not processed and you like it, it's good. I won't be making a list since I have my idiosyncrasies and also because I don't live in the States it wouldn't probably be very useful.

_________________I don't know where the blind could lead the sightlessbut I'd still like to witness

Since then we've learned more about fat. It seems that most of the negatives associated with fats have to do with oxidization, or rancidity. Oxidization causes free radicals which cause cancer. Different types of fats have an operating range of temperatures that they're stable at. The plants and animals that contain the fats need them to be liquid at their operating temperatures but not prone to oxidization. that's why animals and tropical plants have fat that's hard at room temperature but liquid at body temperature. Similarly, cold water fish have fats that are liquid at low temperatures. Your body needs mostly the hard fats since these are least prone to oxidization.

The types of fats to be most wary of are fats that require heat in order to extract them. Oils from seeds, for example, need to heated and treated with chemicals in order to be used. This heat, causes oxidization of the delicate polyunsaturated fats they contain. On the other hand, olive oil is cold extracted. The mono-unsaturated fats they contain are also more stable since olives grow in a warmer climate. Most stable are the tropical oils found in coconuts and palms as well as warm blooded animals. These also don't require heat for extraction. These are also the most stable. This is why margarine has to be kept in the fridge but butter, olive and coconut oil can be kept out.

Saturated and mono-unsaturated fats can be consumed in any amount but you want to restrict your poly unsaturated fats to the essential amount required by the body. This is actually a very small amount, about 3-4% of calories in total. About half should be omega 3 and half omega 6. Your total fat intake needs to be at least 30% but can be as high as 80% of your calories.

Fats are your body's preferred source of energy.

Artificial fats of any type are unhealthy.

_________________Stu Ward_________________Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~HippocratesStrength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley_________________Thanks TimD

I make it a central part of my diet. My usual aim is for 1/3 of my fat grams to be saturated, 1/3 polyunsaturated, and 1/3 monounsaturated. I totally avoid any trans fats, and any ingredients that involve them (even if the label amount is 0, if it includes partially hyrdrogenated oils, it has some >0 quantity of trans fats.)

I started training to lose weight and therefore very much got into the mindset of avoiding fat entirely. Now I'm 3 stone lighter I'm trying to move more towards general fitness with a bias towards lifting weight, however I've struggled to get my nutrition thinking out of weight loss mode and am trying to rethink things.

bjwuk, read this article from T-Nation about insulin sensitivity. You can loose weight if you increase it, and there is something about fats.You should increase your intake of Omega 3, the best way to get Omega 3 is from flax seed.

...the only case where its amount should be kept under control is when you're eating carbohydrates along with it....

Why? I've never heard this advice before. Please elaborate.

Carbs increase insulin which encourages fat storage. Too much of both = body fat increase. The real answer of course is to control the carbs, which makes over all calorie control easier as well. However many studies assume a baseline intake of carbs which are rich in "heart healthy" whole grains, and then dicker around with moderate fat levels confounding anything they come up with.

_________________Stu Ward_________________Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~HippocratesStrength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley_________________Thanks TimD

...the only case where its amount should be kept under control is when you're eating carbohydrates along with it....

Why? I've never heard this advice before. Please elaborate.

Carbs increase insulin which encourages fat storage. Too much of both = body fat increase. The real answer of course is to control the carbs, which makes over all calorie control easier as well. However many studies assume a baseline intake of carbs which are rich in "heart healthy" whole grains, and then dicker around with moderate fat levels confounding anything they come up with.

Well, it sounded like he was concerned with eating at the same meal, and saying that you should reduce fats if you are eating the fats with carbs. I say, just reduce the carbs.

_________________Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

He's talking about post workout. Fat will slow the uptake of the protein and carbs so in that case it would make a difference.

_________________Stu Ward_________________Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~HippocratesStrength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley_________________Thanks TimD

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